Lucky was Nara
by LazierThanNara
Summary: Ino is heartbroken.  Who's going to cheer her up now? ShikamaruXIno. Oneshot


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Lucky was Nara

Rejected. Downright, flatly rejected.

Ino burst into tears. Sasuke's exact words were: I'd rather date a log. They're much quieter and definitely more useful in a battle than you are.

He had shattered her heart and left her to wander aimlessly in the streets. He was a heartless, cruel bastard. A very handsome, heartless, cruel bastard, but a bastard nonetheless.

Ino wept as she stumbled around Konoha, finally deciding she should go to Chouji for comfort. He was the most kind-hearted boy she had ever had the pleasure to meet, and he would know exactly how to comfort her.

When she finally reached the Akimichi house, she noticed that it was unusually quiet. She knocked on the door, but no one answered. Baffled, Ino decided to find Shikamaru. Surely, with his 200 IQ, he would know where his best friend was.

Tears still falling from her eyes, she slowly walked over to Shikamaru's favorite place: the boring, empty cloud-watching hill.

As she approached the said hill, the figure of the laziest ninja she had ever had the misfortune to meet became came into view. Ino stood over him, and realized that Shikamaru looked rather cute, fast asleep with one hand on his chest and the other holding a flower.

She nudged the boy with her foot, but he just groaned and rolled over. Sighing, she kicked him awake. Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes and stared at her with an expression of utter irritation. He was about to insult her, make her feel bad about waking him up, and make her leave him alone, until he clearly saw her face.

She was crying. She had never cried once since Sakura gave her back her red ribbon and destroyed their friendship. Something was wrong. Ino did not cry. Period.

Slowly sitting up, the Nara boy took a guess. "Sasuke refused to go on a date with you and you need Chouji's comforting skills?"

Both shocked and amazed, Ino nodded.

Lazy boy Nara sighed. "Chouji is on a mission. He won't be back for another week." Ino collapsed on the soft grass, her eyes spilling tears like fountains. Shikamaru sighed once again, and pulled her up to sit next to him, while handing her the flower.

Sniffing loudly, Ino took the flower and began to speak. Shikamaru, although annoyed by her ear-piercing voice, picked up keywords such as: Sasuke-kun, log, bastard, Chouji, and something that sounded a lot like "life sucks". As she rambled on, Shikamaru decided it was hopeless and secretly created a kawarimi to escape

Kawarimi No Jutsu, success, he thought, while sneaking away from a loud-mouth blond and a lazy Nara log. Shikamaru found a comfortable patch of grass at the base of his cloud-watching hill and lay down, enjoying what few clouds were in the air.

Those clouds, so white and fluffy, so proud and peaceful, reminded him of her. Shikamaru had to admit, she was beautiful. True, she was a handful, two handfuls even, but when she was happy, the sun seemed brighter, clouds fluffier, air warmer, skies more clear, grass more comfortable, and most of all, world more peaceful.

He often dreamed of her, watching the clouds with him, fingers linked, both content. But reality always hit him in the face, and he knew she only liked Sasuke, and he was just some lazy, average boy.

Ino didn't like lazy and she sure as hell didn't go for average. Ino and average didn't go along together. She was extravagant, outgoing, talkative, energetic, beautiful, and irritating all rolled up into a killer body with warm blue eyes and long, soft, blond hair.

She was the exact opposite of Shikamaru: boring, lazy, normal, sleepy, isolated, calm, and quiet. Noting this, lazy boy Nara concluded that he had no chance with the girl of his dreams, and decided just to pass time by enjoying the clouds.

They were his source of comfort, the next best thing to a happy Ino. Shikamaru watched them pass by and slowly closed his eyes.

"NARA SHIKAMARU! I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB AND RIP YOUR GUTS OUT! WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, YOU'LL WISH YOU'VE NEVER LEARNED HOW TO DO A REPLACMENT TECHNIQUE!"

Shikamaru woke up with a ringing in his ears and an extremely pissed off Ino in his face. _Oh kami, I knew I should've gone home instead of stopping at the bottom of the hill._ He was screwed, and he knew that he would have to be rushed to Konoha Hospital and be treated by Tsunade herself after Ino was finished with her tirade.

His brain quickly formulated several options:

Take the brunt of the damage and get it over with.

Use another Kawarimi and run to a different village before she rips your balls off.

Use Kage Mane no Jutsu to stop her and pray that you don't run out of chakra.

Become her slave for a year and deal with carrying 500 shopping bags.

Distract her somehow and make her forget that she's angry.

Hmm…Options 1 & 2 were dangerous to his health and options 3 & 4 were extrememly troublesome. That just leaves option 5, distraction.

Distraction. Ino. Those didn't go along well either. Mendokuse…her yelling was giving him a headache and stopped his brain from functioning properly. _What kind of distraction do I need?_ He needed to stop her from yelling so he could think properly!

So…he acted upon instinct and tried to stop her from yelling. He couldn't "out-yell" her, so he did the stupidest thing to stop her. Even worse than options 1-4. God, for the village's lead strategist and genius, he was surely an idiot.

He kissed her.

In surprise, she stopped talking. It felt good, and she breathed in his scent, one of grass and flowers. She felt warm, safe, and secure, as he wrapped his arms around her. She had never known that Shikamaru could be better at comforting her than Chouji was. All thoughts of Sasuke disappeared, and she lost track of time and herself in the wondrous feeling.

He, on the other hand, was thinking quickly. Why had he kissed her? Sure, it felt incredible, but the imminent slap across the face would not. She liked Sasuke, not him. She wanted a kiss from Sasuke, not him. Yet, he couldn't help himself as he wrapped his arms around her. He was scared, she would kill him. Then, he was relieved.

She kissed him back. Him, she kissed him, Nara Shikamaru. Not Sasuke, Shikamaru. Number One lazy genius strategist of Konoha. Average, boring, normal Shikamaru. She kissed him. She kissed lazy boy Nara.

When they finally broke apart, he smiled. A hopeful smile. A smile that said, "Don't kill me." She smiled back at him, and he relaxed. He was one lucky Nara.

They slowly walked back to the village. She was quiet for once. He was tense for once. She had nothing to say. He had just embraced and lip-locked the girl of his dreams.

Then, she spoke. An angelic voice came through her perfect lips.

"Shikamaru?"

"Hm?" He couldn't concentrate. The way she said his name had melted his insides.

Then, she slapped him. Twice. Cheeks red and stinging, he stared at her in disbelief. "Ow! What was that for?"

"That was for creating and kawarimi to escape from me." _Oh, guess she didn't forget. Mendokuse._

Then she kissed him. Again, he started at her in disbelief.

"That was for comforting me", Ino smiled brightly. Shikamaru flashed a hopeful grin.

Then Ino offered, "Thanks for taking my mind off of Sasuke-kun. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Well, you can talk less, it hurts my ears." Bad reply. Very, very bad reply.

Later, as Shikamaru limped home alone, he smiled at the thought of having a chance with the girl of his dreams. She was two handfuls, sure, but she was worth it.

He was lucky. Lazy boy Nara, got lucky.

The end.

This is my first story, so please review with constructive criticism. I do appreciate the time and effort you all took to read (and hopefully review) this story. I know there are many fragments in the story; most of them were put in there on purpose.


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